Magnetic Attraction
by Mable
Summary: The Stitchpunks finally decide to confront 8 on his addiction to the magnet, not realizing what large undertaking will follow such a commitment. It's so easy to slip back into the addiction, and 8 will have to fight something he's never imagined; himself.
1. Chapter 1: The Addiction

**Mable: I've been planning this fic for a long time, since back when I wrote my fic about Six's suicide attempt and the others' attempt to help. This is sort of… Eight's trial, if you would, but unlike Six's tale this one will be broken into chapters. I've just had such a bad writer's block; I'm thinking maybe writing something different may help me work over it. Especially when I'm feeling such a high inspiration for it. Anyway, I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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 _ **Magnetic Attraction**_

 _Chapter One: The Addiction_

There were some things that the Stitchpunks just did not talk about. Nine learned this from his short time living with them. Neither One nor Seven talked about whatever happened years ago and caused her to leave with the twins. Six didn't like talking about visions that he had gotten wrong. While Two had rescued Five, and Five was comfortable with losing his eye, he didn't actually like talking about the events around when it happened. One and Two also didn't talk about the Scientist even though they knew him best; Nine assumed it was a mourning mechanism.

Yet there was one thing that Nine had to mention as he had clearly seen it in the act, and it involved Eight. Eight was the quietest of the group. At first Nine assumed that it was because Eight had nothing to say, but upon knowing him longer he realized that it was instead because he let One speak for him. The Guard wasn't dimwitted like one would assume either, he just kept mostly to himself and did his own thing. Sometimes he did things that Nine didn't understand and during one of these incidents boldly asked the others.

"Why does Eight use that magnet on himself?" Nine asked out of nowhere. He purposely waited until he had a few of the others together in the workshop. One and Two had been talking about finding a chessboard, Five was arranging tools, and Nine strode in with the question on his lips. Needless to say, the three simply stared for a few moments. Then One turned further and inquired, "He's still doing that?" There was obvious displeasure in his voice and Nine nodded. "I noticed it earlier… Why? You've seen it too?" He feared that the others would shut down the conversation.

"Of course I've seen it," One growled in frustration that wasn't aimed towards Nine. "And I thought he had stopped." Two also looked upset, but in a softer and more concerned way. Five simply looked awkward in the corner. "I… Yeah, he's still… He's still doing it," Five added in, confirming that he knew about it. "Then why didn't somebody tell me? I thought I was very clear on the matter!" One snapped again and Two stepped in. "Well, obviously just talking hasn't worked. I didn't really think it would, but I had hoped it wasn't…" he trailed off.

"I thought magnets were used for sedation," Nine remarked and Two solemnly nodded. "They are, but smaller doses can be used for euphoric responses." One started out of the room and Two called after him, "And where on Earth would you be going?" He already knew, One knew it and yet spat back, "To deal with this _again._ Excuse me." Then the Leader vanished through the curtain. At this time Nine was still a bit unsure about the whole thing. "I think I understand enough. Why is One so angry about this?" he dug deeper and Five took the liberty to explain.

"Eight's been using the magnets for years, and for more than just practical use. I think it was after an injury or something, but he started using it and couldn't stop. He's still using them now, apparently," Five joked at the end. Two took his own turn, "There's a few complications that can arise from this, but the biggest trouble is that we don't know how magnets will affect his core," he tapped the side of his head to clarify. "If years of use could cause something disastrous we wouldn't be able to know until it was too late… The fact that there may be addiction involved is also concerning."

"I guess you don't want something like that hanging over your head," Nine concluded. "Literally." The other two nodded and he glanced to the doorway. "But One told him to stop?" They both nodded. "Back at the Cathedral One had forbid it. He uh, forbid a lot of stuff. He used to have this list-," Five set his hands apart as though to measure said list. It actually made Two chuckle a little; Nine thought it sounded a little forced. "Ah yes, that list. I was almost surprised when it didn't return." He grew more solemn, "But magnet use like this… I wasn't against it."

"How doesn't it put Eight to sleep? When we used it on you for your legs you could barely stay awake, and before you did you said whatever you could." It had been a bit amusing at the time. Even with Two undergoing massive surgery, under magnet he had babbled and laughed, and then fell unconscious. Two got a slight smile, "It's a tolerance. You see, if one of the twins were injured and used it they wouldn't have even been awake as long as I was. Eight's used it so long that his body doesn't react the same to it. He feels euphoria without exhaustion."

"Then how do you even work on him?" Nine asked in alarm. Five quietly admitted, "We have to use a stronger one… But Eight usually deals with pain alright." Nine was slowly starting to see why One had been so upset. From what he was hearing it sounded like this magnet was something to become concerned about. "Why doesn't he just stop?... I guess it's not that easy," Nine knew he was somewhat naïve, but it quickly occurred to him that nothing would be easy. "I think I understand..." Five and Two continued discussing it in concern while Nine stepped out.

"What do you think One's going to do?" Five had asked his mentor. Two didn't seem very confident, "Most likely he'll confront Eight, call him out on still doing it, may try to confiscate the magnet… You know Eight, he won't argue with One, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll stop. Unfortunately, he listens to One so well on everything else that I have no doubt One will believe him if he says the right thing." This didn't bode too well for Nine who decided he needed a second opinion. He headed into the twins' study, able to hear One upset nearby as he did.

The twins were pasting newspaper clippings into their book while Seven watched nearby. From her set aside helmet and spear it was possible that she had just finished working on them and was taking a break. "Hey!" Nine waved and crossed over to sit beside her. She smiled back to him, "Afternoon, Nine." The male waited only a minute before asking, "Hey, this might sound weird… But you know about that thing Eight does with his magnet, right?" Her brows raised a bit in surprise, "His habit? I do, but I didn't think that you knew."

"Apparently One thought he stopped. That's what he's yelling about; I asked him, and Two and Five, about what it meant." He noticed that the twins were looking over and waved to them as well. He then noticed her lack of surprise as she reached for her helmet, holding it briefly. "You knew he hadn't?" She gave a nod and slid the helmet on. "I had a feeling he wasn't going to stop just because One said to. He just stopped doing it as visibly. Usually he goes somewhere, like his room. Sometime when he knows One's not going to come looking."

She sighed a bit in distress. "I do wish he would stop though. I don't trust magnet use beyond when it's completely needed." Nine nodded in understanding. He felt like he was getting somewhere and dared to ask more. "Do you know how frequently he uses it? Or how long? Is there any sort of side effect afterwards to tell?" Seven tapped her fingers on the book beneath her. "He probably uses it every couple of days, but I'm not sure about anything more. Eight and I don't spend a lot of time together outside of sparring." A new voice suddenly broke in, "He uses it every day."

Nine blinked and turned around to stare into the space behind the lift and the book. There was a lit candle that he could see, but nobody else. "Six?" he inquired in confusion and right afterwards a face could be seen peeking out. "Back here, I'm working." He was then gone again and Nine looked to Seven, a lopsided smile on his face, then stood and headed behind the book. Six had a little setup in the area; half-filled inkwells littered the floor, finished drawings laid out to dry, and a large piece of paper was currently tacked onto a titled book like an easel.

Six's arms were drenched in ink from the elbow down. He had been going all out on the paper hung before him and was currently staring it down like it offended him. Nine approached and took a closer look; there looked to be a few unfinished buildings already sketched in, but not much else. "Is it the city?" Nine asked in interest, and Six hummed in response. "It's a city… I just don't know which one yet…" He pursed his lips and raised a hand to his lips in a thinking pattern. He must have not made contact though as there was no ink on his face when he lowered it.

"You know about Eight's habit as well," Nine stated in a bit of confusion. "How frequently does he use it?" Six now dragged his mismatched optics from the drawing and to Nine instead. "Every day. Sometimes once, sometimes twice, always before bed. Doesn't use it long, but he still uses it the same way." It seemed that Six knew the most about Eight's habit, which truly took Nine aback. After all, One hadn't even known he was still using it and the two of them were so close. "And side effects? Anything that might make him stop?"

Six pondered this only for a second, "…He can't focus as well afterwards. He gets afraid, afraid someone will be able to notice it on his face… But he won't stop. Eight doesn't want to stop." Nine protested a bit, "But if he did want to stop. Two said it could be dangerous, maybe we could convince him." Six suddenly got a skeptical look. Again, not like his normal behavior. Six was usually quiet but helpful, happy and interested in his work, but now Six seemed much more calm and concentrated better than usual. It suddenly occurred to Nine that Six must have slept the night before.

"Eight won't want to," Six spoke and Nine asked, "How can we be so sure? Maybe Eight can't stop." For a second Six got a disturbed look and moved his hands to rub his key, "Eight's predictable. If he can't stop, if he's become too needy on it, he won't stop." Nine bit his lip, knowing Six was right. "But he's not stupid, if we had enough evidence he would half to stop." The smaller shrugged, "Maybe. Eight's not stupid, he definitely isn't, but he lives in the moment and sometimes he doesn't… I don't think he thinks for long term. I think he's afraid to."

It seemed to make enough sense. Nine gave Six a smile, "Well, thanks. You're the only one who was able to give me this much." Six smiled back sheepishly, "It's nothing. I just- I've been around Eight for years. I know him. I know him better than One does." With that confident statement finished he returned to his work, and Nine was lost in thought again. He started to head back to the study when he stopped with a sudden idea and glanced back. "Six… If we all, let's say, sat down and talked to Eight about this, insisted he stopped and that we helped him, would you do it?"

The Artist paused midway through a stroke of his hand. He slowly looked down, thought, and then looked back. "…Okay." That was all he said and elected a warm smile from Nine. "I'll ask the others. Maybe if we all tried we could do it. Good luck on your drawing!" He hurried off while Six lingered there, his mismatched optics dropping towards the floor. He didn't have to see things before they happen to know that this wouldn't be as simple as Nine was expecting it to go. He looked back to his drawing and tried to focus his anxiousness into it.

Nine sat back down beside Seven and the twins now approached in their curious way. Their optics flickered in curiosity and Nine explained, "I just talked to Six about Eight. I'm thinking maybe we should all get together, sit Eight down, and talk this own." Three and Four tilted their head before looking towards Seven as she spoke. "Talk? Nine, we've tried talking before. It doesn't work. Eight will say anything to keep going," Seven pointed out. Usually Seven's doubt didn't bother Nine, but for some reason he felt slightly annoyed at the dismissive response.

"I know you think that and I know One will think that too, but doing nothing isn't an answer. Has everyone tried sitting down together and talking to Eight?" The twins shook their heads in answer. "We need to all stand together if we want to show Eight how serious we are. Trust me, I'm certain of it," Nine firmly reassured the female and the two twins. She wasn't fully sure if she believed this, but gave a nod. "Alright. If you can get the others to agree, and Eight, I'll make my input. The twins too." Three eagerly nodded and Four hesitated, but then got a look from the other twin and nodded too.

"Thanks guys. We'll need your support," Nine smiled at them and stood. "I'll go ask Five and Two now and try to find One later." Seven smirked a little, "It might be a while. Once One starts yelling he has to run the whole track or he resets." The twins seemed to giggle with flickering optics and Nine chuckled in agreement. He then dismissed himself and returned to Two and Five with his plan. As he explained it he certainly noticed the concern on their faces, the uncertainty, but he insisted his point further. "Eight is always able to dismiss or run, but this time he can't."

Unsurprisingly, Five was the first to back Nine's ideals. "That's true, Two. One tells him, you tell him, he walks away from me, but we never all tell him at the same time." The Healer smiled to the zippered male, "I think we should do it!" With this Two smiled, "It is certainly worth a try. What did One say?" Nine hesitated for a moment as he remembered the last Stitchpunk he had to ask. "I haven't asked him yet… I don't see why he'd disagree, right?" Two gave a nod, "I don't either. One can be very reasonable."

Nine and Five shot each other looks. Two must have noticed as he chuckled and continued, "I'm serious. One may seem stubborn, and he is, but he is rational and I see no reason why he wouldn't see this as an excellent opportunity." Maybe Five and Nine weren't as sure, but Two's confidence managed to persuade the zippered male further. He dismissed himself and headed out to find One. Thankfully One wasn't far, unfortunately he was practically stewing as he paced the marble floor.

"I have told him how many times about the dangers and he still goes to ignore me! Lies to me! How can I trust him as a guard when his lips spill nothing but false promises?!" Nine wasn't sure what Eight said to One, but to him it sounded suspiciously like he had blown his leader off with false promises. Both Two and Seven had acted like this wasn't too far out of the question. "One," Nine announced his presence. "I've been thinking about Eight's problem with the magnet and I have an idea on what we can do."

He didn't wait for One to chime in and continued. "We could all confront Eight at once. It would keep him from running, we could make him hear our concerns, and maybe it could convince him to stop." He then waited for the Leader's reaction. He took a few moments to ponder it. Then he abruptly broke in with, "Yes. That sounds more than fitting." Nine blinked in surprise, "Really?" One furrowed his brow, "Of course. Why would you ask me if you thought I would say no?" Nine coughed, "Uh… No, I was just… So how do we do this?" Nine offered mostly to get One's opinion and make him feel more involved.

One knew Eight better than Nine did anyways. If anyone would know it would be him. "I'll lead him into the study. He won't ask questions if I say I need his assistance. You will have the others already in there, waiting for the confrontation, and we will stack the evidence for him and make certain that he listens." Nine nodded in understanding, "The others are all willing. I'll get them together." He started to stand when One stopped him, "Wait until sunset. Eight will find it strange if I suddenly want him following me after reprimanding him."

He brushed off his cape. "In the meantime you and the others should think over what you are all going to say. It is of dire importance that we are convincing and persuasive, or this may fail as well…" One suddenly got a saddened look. "And I don't know where I would go from there…" Nine reached out to pat his shoulder, "Don't worry about that, One. We'll handle it… We'll get through to him, we have to. If Eight really does have such a big issue, then he won't be able to ignore it any longer." One obviously agreed and didn't push Nine's hand away.

"Let us hope this will solve all of our troubles," One spoke and then the two parted ways. One to wander around contemplating his thoughts and Nine to go update the others on the plan. This could go either way, but in the end he knew that it was Eight's call. He hoped that he would make the right one.

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 **Mable: Stay tuned for the next chapter where the group finally confronts Eight on his addiction to the magnet. I hope everyone enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Intervention

**Mable: Here we are with the next chapter! Finally the intervention has arrived, but how will it fair? Find out in the chapter below!... I don't know why I'm advertising the chapter right** _ **before**_ **the chapter, but anyway- I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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 _ **Magnetic Attraction**_

 _Chapter Two: The Intervention_

Eight hadn't suspected a thing when One stormed to him. "Eight, we have an issue. Put past grievances aside and come with me; we have somewhere we must be." The leader spun on his heel and strode off. The Guard stood and followed behind him, contemplating who had him angry enough that he was willing to forget his fit with Eight. Once again One was on his case about his use of the magnet. For years Eight had been using it to ease his strain and stress and for years the habit hadn't exactly bothered him at all. It was the others who were bothered.

He had tried quitting once before, but it occurred to him quickly that without the magnet he was at the mercy of strange side-effects. Almost immediately he decided that it wasn't worth it and went back onto the magnet. It became a ritual schedule to comfort and stave off whatever ailed him. So far it worked like a charm. The two headed into the study together where the others were grouped together, sitting around. One now turned on Eight and the guard raised a brow. Then he slowly realized that this was some sort of set up. "…Boss?"

"Eight, we need to have a talk. Sit down on that book right there," One pointed out the book and Eight did as suggested. He had a feeling he was about to be stuck in a bind. He knew what it was going to be a problem with the magnet, already from the scolding from One earlier, and he glanced around at the others who were all watching. One stood off to the side and cleared his voice box. "All of us have something to say about your affiliation with the magnet, Eight. You will sit there and listen to all of us, for we are your family and we do care."

He then turned to the group, "Who would like to go first?" It was Two who stood from his seat with a silent volunteer. "Eight, we all care about you. I remember when One and I first found you out in the Emptiness. You protected us as a strong and wonderful guard, and you still do, but this addiction concerns me. We don't know the full effect of what the magnet can cause, and because of that… Because of that every time I see or hear of you using the magnet I become more frightened. I think your health is at stake. Perhaps your mind as well."

The Guard glanced away and Two sat back down. Now Five stood beside Two, "Uh… Continuing what Two was saying, I'm pretty worried about the effects of the magnet on your body. Already you are becoming more tolerate to the magnet, which means sedating you enough for surgery is even more difficult than ever. It could be effecting your core- Your optics could be damaged. The static triggered by the magnet may cause irreversible damage… As of now, there's not exactly a way to replace optics at all. You're a great guard, but will you be able to guard with this much bodily harm?"

Five actually got a bit worked up as he explained his point. Two took his wrist and guided him down to sit and rest. Nine also reached out to pat his shoulder, though in this time Six leaned over. "I want to go last. Please, I have to go last." Nine nodded in agreement and looked to One who continued. "Well, Eight, so you're hearing the physical effects of the magnet. What do you think?" After a few seconds of silence Eight realized that he really wanted him to speak. "Well, yeah, but I've been using it and haven't noticed any of this. Maybe the being put down thing…"

"Moving on!" One announced, his optics narrowing further as he looked back. "Who's next?" The twins dashed forward to the center of the circle and started to project images onto the floor. They were quick, showing diagrams and words, pointing out certain things as images of magnets appeared. What they were basically doing was showing how a magnet actually worked. They finished their brief presentation with Four making a pulling motion over Three's head and Three waving and shaking head in disagreement with the action. Showing that the magnet was possibly wrong.

"Excellent, you two," Two greeted as they sat down. "I can see that you two really did your homework." The twins smiled in delight and sat next to him as Seven stood. "Good job… But I don't need statistics." She said this almost dramatically as she approached Eight. "Eight, what you're doing is stupid. You're risking your body, you're wasting hours using it, and after you do use it you get lazy and paranoid. Not in a good way either. The fact of the matter is that you simply cannot complete your task as a guard when magnet high. Like it or not."

Finally Eight started to become defensive. "I've been doing my job well. Nothing's gotten into the Library under my watch. What's so bad about the magnet? All everyone has is a bunch of 'maybe's and a little down time. I use it to feel good; It does that, it keeps me happy, and I don't have a problem with it. In fact, there's no problem." This was the most Eight had really said to everyone at one time. To him his points were clear and Seven was so taken aback by his completely reluctance that she fell silent and looked to the side.

One finally stepped forwards and coaxed her back to the books again. "Who is next?" he looked towards Six who looked downwards. Nine took the chance to stand upwards and take the stage for his own presentation. "Eight… The biggest problem is that you can't stop. We know about the side effects when you stop the magnet for too long. This is a bad sign and you know it. When something hurts you to stop it there is something terribly wrong." Again Eight averted his optics and Nine knew he hit the mark.

"I know that we haven't known each other long, but I do care about you, Eight. We all do. We're all worried that this is getting out of control." Then Nine went to sit down. The last Stitchpunk stood and moved forwards, Six, and he quietly spoke. "Eight… I don't know about needing something… I guess it's like my key. I need my key to make me comfortable, but I can let it go. If it meant life, I'd let it go." Eight stood and raised his hands. "Look, everyone, I'm glad you all care and everything, but I'm good where I am. I don't need to stop."

"Have you not been listening?!" One demanded, banging his staff on the ground as Nine stood and came forwards. "Eight, please, we know it's hard-." Eight huffed and gave a slightly annoyed look. "It's not hard. I could stop if I wanted to, but I just don't want to. Why should I have to stop something I like? Simple, I don't. Don't have any intention. The magnet's staying." Nine looked on in horror as One growled in anger. "You are in complete denial. You see this, all of this, and you simply ignore it when you know it's right!" That's when a third voice spoke.

"It's okay," Six murmured softly as though comforting. Though right afterwards his voice dropped a bit. "He just doesn't want to remember. The magnet hurt him, but he wants to forget it. The magnet helps him forget his mistake." At this moment Eight turned back towards Six, "What's that supposed to mean?" There was clear frustration in his voice, but Six didn't back down. He took a step forwards and clutched his key, but stared down with a firm gaze. His mismatched optics bore holes into Eight's fabric in a way that Eight couldn't stand.

"It means that you know the magnet hurts you and you're too addicted to the good parts that you won't remember the bad parts. We all know what happened, you do, we do." Eight came in closer, "What are you saying?!" Six's voice turned surprisingly cold as he stated the next few words. "You got taken by the Seamstress because you were magnet high." Eight's optics widened and the comment actually took him aback. He lost a bit of the harshness in his voice, "That's not true." Six's face contorted in anger while his hand fell to his sides in clenched fists, "Yes it is! You didn't have a chance!"

Every one of the Stitchpunks went incredibly silent as they stared at the scene. Five slowly stood and came forward, "Six…" He rested his large hands on Six's shoulders in a reassuring fashion. Yet Six's temper didn't cool, his voice simply went back from a yell to its previous cold tone. "You put yourself into danger. You're not that stupid, Eight, so I know it was because you had to use it. It came on your nightly high and if you didn't do it you would start to have those side effects. This is why the magnet is so bad. You can't stop it, not even to save yourself."

The silence returned and Eight stared at Six. His optics then scanned the others', quiet and filled with dread, wondering if they all really did think that like Six said. Suddenly Eight made a decision, "Fine." He reached onto his back and pulled off the knife, then the magnet, and then tossed the latter to the floor. "I can stop. I don't need it." The quietness continued. "I'm serious. You all think I can't go without it. _You_ think I can't go without it?" He eyed Six directly. "Well, I can. Here, done." Suddenly Two stood and broke into clapping, "Congratulations, Eight! Oh, this is wonderful!"

"We're really proud of you, Eight! We know it's hard to let it go," Five continued as he stood smiling by his mentor. "Yeah, whatever," Eight dismissively muttered, looking away. He felt like he was mortified and like giving in had made him look even worse, regardless of how pleased the others were. "You will see, Eight, it's better to not be stuck with it. The pleasure's not worth the drawbacks," Nine encouraged. "And you're very strong for doing it." Eight gave a sort of shrug at his comment. One now cleared his voice module, "Well, it seems that we have reached a longstanding goal. Eight, I'm proud."

Two came closer to the guard, kicking the magnet back casually with his foot as he did. "Come with me, my boy! I am going to make a proper holster for your knife! It's been long overdue and you deserve something for such a decision." They headed off and Five slipped forwards the few steps to grab the magnet. Nine looked to him in concern and Five smiled in his slightly playful way, "Just getting rid of the temptation." Nine smiled back at him, "I'm glad this worked. I had a feeling all of us working together would help." Seven approached him with an approving look.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, Nine. It seems so practical in retrospect, but I didn't think it would work." She looked to Six standing nearby, "Six, you were really the one who did it. I guess we were all too afraid to really be more firm; I'm proud of you." Six didn't respond at first. Seven got a concerned look as Five spoke, "Six?" The Artist slowly looked back at the three and revealed the distraught look on his face. His pen tipped fingers tightened around his key and his mismatched optics were wide in sadness. "Does he hate me now?... I guess he already hated me, but…"

"Eight doesn't hate you, Six," Seven reassured him. "I know for a fact that he doesn't. You know how he is, Eight's just Eight." Nine also felt the need to add in, "Six, he's not upset at you. He's upset that he was caught and now agreed to quit the magnet. He might be sore about his pride, but he'll thank us eventually, thank you eventually. He will never have to go back." Five quietly fondled the magnet in his hands, "Well, we hope." He thought that this comment would be blown over, but Nine, Seven, and Six then looked to him. "What do you mean?" Nine asked.

"…Well, I was just saying," Five tried to cover his doubt. "If the side effects are that bad- withdrawals are what they're actually called- then he might be tempted. The best thing is to just get rid of the idea before he even thinks it." Between Five and Six, Nine was starting to feel uneasy again and he could see some on Seven's face. He spoke to ease the mood, "We should be celebrating! We succeeded and Eight's stopping the magnet. We shouldn't be worrying about what might happen in the future." Five perked a bit, "Nine's right. We can't really tell how it's going to go just yet."

The twins hurried off after Two and Eight, right past the four, and Seven decided to follow them along. One paused beside Nine, Five, and Six. "Nine, we need to talk in private." Nine tilted his head and looked to Five, who then looked to Six. "Uh… Why don't we go check out your drawing? I haven't seen it since yesterday morning." Six seemed to brighten only slightly and nodded, then guided the one eyed male into the gallery section of the study. Nine watched them leave before looking to One. "We're alone. What's wrong?"

One sent a paranoid look at the exit of the study. "We need to keep a close watch on Eight. I fear Eight will be expecting me to do it and I cannot trust some of the others to be as discreet," One explained. "Even the discreet ones may be watched too closely. Eight won't suspect you as much; he'll suspect Seven, he'll suspect Five, and he may even suspect Six now." The zippered male gave a reassuring nod. "I can do that, but I don't think it should be a problem." Yet One was insistent, "It will be. Don't even doubt for a second that something this complex will be simple."

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful though. Nine did find Eight with Two later on, but the guard made no attempt to touch the magnet. He didn't even look for the magnet one Two had secured a set of leather straps to hold the knife instead of the magnet. He tried unsheathing it and was content, and everything seemed to be going fine enough. Eventually evening set in and Nine tried to stay awake to watch Eight, though was getting tired in the process. Thankfully One made an announcement that somewhat helped, "I'm heading to my chambers."

One headed into his room and shortly after Eight went into his own room. It was littered with weapons, tools, and crafting items, but Nine was relatively sure that there weren't any magnets in there. Mostly because there were only two magnets currently in the Sanctuary portion of the Library, and both were now with Two and Five. He trusted Eight and left him be as he headed to his own room and laid down. It felt so good to help someone again. Maybe Nine wouldn't admit it, but his installed purpose to 'save someone' had become a nescience once he had nobody to save.

Though it wasn't just for himself, Nine had to repeatedly remind over and over, it was for Eight. He was genuinely concerned about Eight and the nagging sensation hadn't been the reason he was so concerned. Staring at the roof from his bed he felt growing concern wracking his body. Everyone seemed so certain that something was going to happen and he didn't know what to do to prevent it. Eventually he rolled over and fell asleep. He had a feeling he would need to be awake early tomorrow and didn't want to risk not being there.

Eight, meanwhile, sat in his room silently. He was still thoroughly embarrassed from earlier, but didn't have anything he could do about it. Two's holster hung on the wall now as his knife was sitting with the rest of his weapons. If someone came in they wouldn't notice the magnet was missing, but somehow he could feel it. Usually he used the magnet not to relax for bed, but he didn't have it and wasn't willing to sneak out and get one. Honestly it wasn't worth the fight or anything, regardless if the guard thought that it wasn't that bad.

" _I'm not going to let them think that I need it. It's great, yeah, but I'm not- I don't need anything like that. I'm fine on my own. Don't even need it for stitching, and now he said… And now everything thinks…"_ He dropped his head into his hands. Hours later and Six's accusation still bothered him. Someone would expect he would go get revenge on Six, even he expected that he would've turned his taunting of Six to a higher degree to feel better, but instead he couldn't even face him. Because as much as he hated to admit it, Six had been absolutely right.

Six, the slightly unhinged one, the one who everyone though was most afraid of Eight, maybe Eight even thought it, who seemed to barely have any idea what time it was half of the time, had been the one to throw his biggest mistake back into his face. He hadn't been thinking, he hadn't been rationalizing, it had been a hard day; no excuse made up for the fact that he had nearly handed himself over to the Seamstress. Just realizing that made him think that maybe he did need to stop the magnet. Or at least cut back enough that he didn't need it as much.

" _I just have to go along with this… Creator, if I slip now who knows what in the hell he's gonna say next."_ Eight practically shivered at the thought. He didn't want anything else being dragged into the open in front of everybody. He laid down in his bed and attempted to relax without his magnet, falling into a fitful sleep. He thought it was from a culmination of concern from today and his mind unable to yield on its thoughts, but he was in for a rough awakening. He didn't even realize it yet, but this was only the beginning of his ordeal.

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 **Mable: The third chapter will be posted as soon as I can write it. I hope everyone enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Withdrawals

**Mable: Here we are with the next chapter! Sorry about the delay and I hope you still enjoy the chapter. I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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 _ **Magnetic Attraction**_

 _Chapter Three: The Withdrawals_

When Eight awoke it felt like there was a pressure pushing down on the entirety of his body. His arms felt weak and his head was foggy. He assumed it was the lack of sleep as he had been tossing and turning through most of the night. He still managed to drag himself out of bed and went to normal duties. He staggered around after One, looking a bit rough, and eventually it was Five who inquired about it. "Eight, you don't look very well. Are you okay?" Eight quietly responded with, "Yeah, I'm fine." Though the healer didn't seem fully convinced.

"Are you sure? You don't look well at all. Maybe you should rest." Out of nowhere Eight snapped at the one eyed male. "Five, I'm _fine…_ Don't worry about it." At the end he tried to sound less aggressive to cover himself. It still hit its mark and Five's optic widened. He then dismissed himself, "Oh, okay, no problem," and then left soon after. While Five was concerned he didn't voice his worries to any of the others. Yet they soon noticed as Eight started to go a little further downhill in a rather short amount of time.

Later he had decided to help the twins clean out a cubby packed with things. He thought it would be good to get some work done and it did seem to release some pent steam. However, it brought its own slew of problems. Eventually a dull headache settled over his optics across his brows. It became a nagging, frustrating thing, and he slowly continued to drag the things out until the cubby was cleaned out. As the twins went through their things he sat down on a nearby book and rested. Usually he didn't need to, but the lack of sleep and headache was taking its toll.

It was now when Nine and Two approached him. He was both loathing it and yet wondering if it would be a good time to bring up the headache to Two. He didn't want him thinking it was the withdrawals or anything, which Eight was sure it wasn't. "Afternoon, Eight! I see the twins have had you working," Two jokingly chuckled and Eight looked back before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, just going through everything." His head throbbed in a dull way as he spoke. He closed his eyes and tried to somewhat will it away, which didn't work.

"Do you know what they're looking for?" Nine asked curiously and Eight stayed silent. "…Eight?" Finally, Eight's optics shot open, "What?" He looked over to the shorter male who looked confused. "What they're looking for, did they tell you?" The Guard shook his head. "Didn't say anything… I guess they don't say anything anyways, but you get it." He glanced over towards the twins and managed to land on someone else. There, peering around the large book, was Six staring directly at him. Eight's response was to immediately look away once more.

Part of him wanted to glare and show his annoyance about everything the smaller had said, but he couldn't. He simply couldn't do anything except back down and look away. He rubbed his head and looked to Two who was peering into a small, ring box. "Two, I've been having some sort of headache." Before he could stop himself he continued to blurt out, "And has nothing to do with the magnet or anything. It just hurts on its own." Two looked to him and hummed in concern. He approached to check his optics and his temperature.

"I'm not seeing anything that jumps out at me," Two remarked as he checked his pulse. It was at this time that Nine spoke, "Are you sure it's not withdrawals or something?" The last thing that Eight wanted to be brought to the forefront was, of course, brought out by Nine. Nine always had been the one who caused the most trouble, except for Six, or maybe it was just Eight's weariness making him feel like it. Two was quick to defend with, "I think this is just a tension headache. Did you get enough sleep last night?" Eight shook his head and Two smiled, "Then that's it."

When the Inventor patted him on the shoulder Eight realized that he was sparing his feeling. The older male suspected it was the lack of magnet, but didn't want to embarrass Eight any further, and the Guard knew this. "Go to bed earlier tonight. Don't worry about what One says, I'm certain he'll agree with me." Now Two began to look into the ring box once more. He beckoned Nine to his side and they looked at the piece of jewelry that the twins had hid within. With no idea what to do next, Eight looked back in the direction Six was in only to find that he was gone.

The rest of the day sort of dragged on like this. Slowly Eight followed the pattern set for him by the others. He helped the twins, he followed One, he avoided Six, and then he dragged himself to bed early. By time he sat down on his bed his headache had diminished only slightly, but was quickly replaced with something else, shaking. Eight had been invited to spar and had to turn it down because of how bad his hands were shaking. He didn't tell Seven that, he just said he was sore from moving things and wouldn't be a proper match. She seemed to buy it well enough.

Eight rubbed his face as he laid down in his bed. It was early for him to sleep, not even One was nearing his bedtime, but he was too weak and weary to protest. It only took a few minutes for Eight to fall asleep.

Then he awoke to a living nightmare.

It was as though he awoke in a warzone, panting and frantic. The room was burning hot and he was shaking under his blanket. Eight kicked it off as quickly as he could, then shoved the pillows away as well. It felt too uncomfortable to be touched by anything at all. The room seemed to be trembling as his optics frantically darted around the ceiling. He tried to figure out what was happening, what was wrong with his body, and it hit him suddenly and harshly; he needed the magnet. He needed it immediately regardless of any agreement.

The next thing he knew he was out of bed and hurrying towards the Workshop. He shoved open the curtain and stepped inside, only to go still. The candle in the corner was lit and on the stool by the workbench was Two. He was just sitting there and Eight felt a chill down his spine. One had mentioned how odd it was that Two went to bed so early, and here he was now sitting there awake. When the Inventor looked over he didn't look surprised at all to see him. "Good evening, Eight. Would you like to sit down?" Somehow Two knew, Eight knew that Two knew.

"Not really," Eight muttered out, his hands rubbing the makeshift doorframe harder. "Two, something's wrong." It was almost a warning in a way. He didn't want to hurt Two or do anything to upset him, but Eight had little resolve left. It took all energy he had to hold him at the door right now instead of tearing the workshop apart. The shorter but older Stitchpunk stood to his feet. "I know, Eight. I know something feels terribly wrong. I think you should sit. Or better yet, lay down on the cot. It might be more comfortable."

"I can't do that," Eight admitted further and looked to where the magnet was usually hung. Yet it was missing, both his own and the medical magnet used for sedation. Two noticed him looking and took a step forward. His eyes were full of patience and fatherly affection. "It's not there. I had a feeling that you would be tempted, so I moved it. Just consider it out of the picture, Eight. It will be much easier if you try to put it out of your mind. Then perhaps we can try to address the unpleasant side effects." There was movement from the corner of the room and Eight looked over.

There was Nine and Five. They were awake too, though looked much more tired. Currently both of them were sitting on the heavy chest that held the non-hanging tools. As clouded as the Guard's judgement was he suddenly had an epiphany. They were not just sitting there to wait for him, but to block the chest, to hide the chest, and Eight suspected that the magnet was in the chest beneath them. "Look, I tried, it didn't work out," Eight tried to sound reasonable and in control. Hopefully he could get them to lower their guard; he dragged his optics from the chest to Two.

"Eight, I… Alright, if you feel that way then I won't stand in your way… But I will not let you make that decision with clouded judgement." Two was more firm at this point. "We will help you get through the night and you can make the call in the morning, but that's it." Five stood and came closer to the guard, "Eight, please, think about this first." Eight nodded as he waited, and then Nine stood from the chest. Eight's optics suddenly locked back onto it and Two only had a second to notice. "Eight, wait!"

The large Stitchpunk pounced forwards towards the chest. As Two and Five tried to grab ahold of Eight he knocked them away, Five stumbling back and Two actually falling onto his stool. Nine leapt onto the chest again and when Eight appeared tried to wrestle with him. "Eight, get ahold of yourself! What are you doing?!" Eight was crazed and practically threw him off of the chest, knocking Five off of his arm yet again. "Get out of my way, you little bratwurst! We wouldn't be having this problem if you just stayed out of it!"

He growled in fury and was promptly rewarded with Nine leaping onto him. "Eight, please stop!" Five begged as Two stood and came forward as well. Now Eight was trying to wrestle all three of them off, grunting as he struggled with them. He finally stopped holding himself back and shoved Five and Nine off harshly. They both fell to the ground and then Eight turned on Two. He grasped his arm and sort of spun him around, knocking him off without being especially harsh. Then he turned back to the chest and found it open.

He followed the sound of footsteps near the door and caught a glimpse of stripes. Eight growled and took out of the workshop, "Six!" He caught a glimpse of Six again as the Artist zipped out of sight and into the Library. He could hear the larger Stitchpunk in pursuit and knew he was faster than usual, but that aside Six was much quicker than Eight. Eight almost lost track of Six, but had an idea of where the Artist had gone. Five and Nine were hot on his heels while Two started to fall behind. In a sudden moment he turned and sped into One's room.

"One!" Two's voice was a sudden jolt in the quiet room. One gave a short cry and sat upwards abruptly, "Two, what on Earth?!" Two dashed to the side of the bed and continued to cry out, "One, Eight's after Six, Six has the magnet, we need you!" One attempted to jump out of bed, getting flustered and caught in the blankets as he did so. "Eight?! How- What is he thinking?!" Two rubbed his face, "He isn't thinking. Creator, I should have hidden that magnet better. I knew this would happen." One got out of bed and placed on his crown, leaving his cape, then hurried with Two.

"I knew it! I knew this would happen!" One growled out. "Can he not control himself?! He knows everything we said still stands!" Two shook his head, "One, Eight's body is reacting dramatically to the loss of the magnet stimulate. I'm not condoning what he's doing, but I'm not surprised… Which makes it all the worse." One looked to him and quickly added in with, "Don't make this your fault. Eight made his own decisions that led us here." Two stayed silent as they hurried.

Eight hurried into the study and right into Six's gallery. "Six!" He looked around to see if he could find any sight of Six, of anything moved or touched, of anywhere where Six could've hid. "Stop hiding from me!" The call didn't seem to lure Six out from wherever he was hiding. Nine and Five sped into the study and were soon standing there as well. "Eight, calm down," Five started in a forced calmness. Nine threw this to the wind, "Eight, you're out of control! Six isn't going to give you the magnet!"

"Oh yeah?" Eight suddenly got a devious thought in his clouded and deprived mind. He noticed that Six had a fountain pen sitting nearby and grabbed it in his hand. "What are you doing?" Nine asked in a warning tone, then watched as Eight approached Six's hanging drawing. By now Six had drawn more across the paper, with a full street that was detailed and more of a building on the side of it, along with more detail to the river. Eight aimed the fountain pen at the sketch like a weapon.

"Don't you dare," Nine sputtered out in mortification and frustration. "I just want the magnet, then I'll be on my way," Eight assured. His movements were becoming more erratic however. He seemed to constantly be shivering and twitching, blinking optics that seemed to have shrunk to near pinpricks, and his heavy breathing wasn't simply from running. There was a soft gasp from nearby and Eight looked back to see Six stepping out from the shadows. The magnet was no longer in his hands.

"Eight…" his meek voice was just as fearful as Nine's had been. Eight focused in on his hands and the lack of the magnet. "Where is it? Go get it, bring it to me and I'll leave the drawing. Or I'm going to tear it apart, I swear." Six's mismatched optics widen and he clutched his key, "I… I thought you didn't need it. You said you didn't need it." There was that accusing voice again and Eight tried to fight past. "Yeah, well, I do. Now wherever it is, go get it." He clutched the fountain pen in his hands tighter.

He was running on so much energy spawned from his body's need for the magnet. He twitched, he panted, and he stared directly at Six who simply stared back. Again those optics were piercing him, as though staring into him. Six knew all of his secrets, had already knew that he was helpless without the magnet, and quietly murmured out, "No." His voice was sudden and firm. As much as Six wanted his art to be untouched, he refused to give in to Eight demands. "I mean it, Six!" Six shook his head and stared firmly. His fear started to change to an innocent, yet sternly unwavering determination.

It wouldn't work and Eight growled as he tightened his grasp on the fountain pen further. There were a few more seconds of frantic thought. Then Eight threw down the ink pen which made a loud clang on the ground, and was then followed by silence. Eight hesitated for a moment before taking a few steps back and sitting down on a wooden box of ink and calligraphy supplies. Silently he dropped his head into his hands and sat there. Five and Nine looked at each other, then looked to Six who looked back in concern.

The silence was broken by One storming in. "What happened?!" he demanded in panic, not liking the quietness that had overtaken the Library. Naturally he assumed the worst and Two limped in after him, his legs' past injuries starting to bother him. The three looked to them and Five came closer, voice lower, "It's all fine. Everything's fine." He insisted in an almost firm way, "It's… I think it's over." He looked back to Eight who still hadn't moved. Surprisingly enough, it was Six who got the nerve to wander closer, even though he had been the one Eight was previously upset with.

"Eight…" His voice cracked out as he stopped only a few steps away from him. "…Eight?" Eight looked up to him, his face marred by what looked like remorse. It alarmed Six who swore he had never seen the emotion from the other male. "I thought it was all under control. Look at me. I don't even… I don't even know what this is." He rubbed his head again. His entire body was slouched and weary as soberness seemed to sink in. "I'm so close to tearing this whole place apart." He said it in more of a pitiful admission than an actual threat of any kind.

"It's okay," Six forced a calm tone and moved closer. Carefully he reached out and took Eight's hand, moving it from his head and taking it into his own, pen tipped ones. Six had never been able to be this close to Eight. He had never seen Eight so vulnerable, so frightened and confused, and he could only remember one instance holding his hand. Though he didn't know if it counted considering that their bodies were elsewhere at the time. Doing it now felt different; clearly more real, but also more meaningful. Six felt closer to Eight's soul now than he had even then.

Two started to cross over with Five in tow. Nine let them get ahead before cautiously following while One watched from a distance. "Eight, I can't imagine what you're experiencing right now," Two began as he laid his hand on the guard's shoulder. "But we can't give in yet. You can't give in now." Five nodded in agreement and Six softly squeezed his hand. Eight slowly exhaled, too tired and mentally cluttered to feel his full embarrassment, "My head's about to explode." Two casually agreed, "So is One's. I think it runs in the family."

Five chimed in with, "It might be contagious." He lightly chuckled as he tried to lighten the mood a little. Two did so as well. Then he looked back to Eight, "Let's head back upstairs, Eight. You need to try and get some rest, try to sleep some of this off." The Guard slowly began to stand, "Can't sleep like this." His voice was muffled and his entire body seemed to suddenly run down. They could only assume that somehow Eight's outburst, something that would usually not happen or not bother him, sapped whatever energy he had and now left him at the mercy of the symptoms.

Six didn't move his hands away and Eight was too out of it to just pull his hand back, or that's what Six assumed was happening when Eight didn't move away. The smaller male went with it, relieved to see his work untouched and slowly guiding Eight out of the study. Nine and One joined the group too, but stayed quiet. They occasionally looked at each other, as though One wanted to send a mental message, but there was no verbal noise. Soon they were back in the Sanctuary and that was when he finally spoke, "I'm heading to bed… Unless I'm needed."

Eight waved him off, "Go on, Boss, I'm fine. I'm not gonna do anything else tonight… Except maybe kill myself." Six made a choking noise and Five's optic went wide. "…That was a joke," Eight flatly pointed out and it was followed by probably the most forced laugh that Nine had ever made. Two insistently guided One back into his room. "Come on, you need to get to bed. All leaders need their sleep." One wasn't exactly impressed by the comment, but he entered into the room with the Inventor following him inside. Before he came back, the others headed into Eight's room.

"Here, just lay down, we'll stay with you," Five instructed as he hung his pack on one of Eight's wall hooks. He had only been wearing it earlier in case he suddenly needed medical supplies, but now the quiver was relatively unneeded, and Eight numbly sat down. "I meant what I said to One. I'm not planning on anything else. I'm done." Even though he said this, both Five and Nine were unsure if the coming hours would trigger Eight's mood to swing yet again, especially with the continuing withdrawals. "Yeah, well… Let's just stay anyway, okay?"

Eight exhaled slowly and laid back on the bed. Now Six detached his hands from Eight's. However, Six wasn't done with his task. He brought the blanket over the Guard and continued to fuss over him. "Just try to relax. We'll be here, we'll take care of you." Eight did give him a confused look once, but seemed too far gone to really consider how odd it was. Nine and Five were a different story, though Five wasn't paying as much attention as Nine. Nine was seemingly picking up on something that the one eyed male simply wasn't noticing.

Nine mostly sat by the door and kept watch, eventually nodding off once or twice against the wall. Five stayed mostly awake, but towards the end sat on the floor and leaned back against the bed. Six didn't sleep at all. He was used to nights without sleep and stayed awake patiently. Ironically enough, Eight seemed to be having the most trouble. He was constantly fidgeting around in bed, kicking the blankets off and putting them back on, and eventually getting out of bed to pace. Eight was also starting to look worse. Halfway through the night and he started to run a fever.

"You have to get back in bed," Five firmly stated as he yanked the blankets down further. "You can't keep going like this, just lay down and it'll go down. Nine, can you..." He noticed that Nine had slumped against the wall again and looked to Six. Before he could ask, Six perked a bit. "I should get water?" The one eyed male nodded insistently. As the Artist headed out Five looked back to Eight, who suddenly yanked all of the blankets off of the bed and dropped them off to the side. "I don't need these. All these are doing are driving me insane, they just keep getting in the way."

He clenched and unclenched his fists as he laid back down on the bed, shifting and fidgeting. The Healer didn't like the signs that the Guard was presenting, but couldn't do much else at the moment. Six eventually returned back to the room with an inkwell filled with water and a couple of rags from the workshop. Five dampened the rags and approached Eight, coming at his forehead with one. After a few moments the Guard turned away, "Don't. I don't like it. I'll just do it myself." Anyone less patient than Five would consider Eight's behavior fussy, but went along with his wishes.

Eight casually tossed the rag on his forehead and continued to simply lay there. Five wasn't pleased, but didn't argue, and sat down on the floor to lean against the bed. It was about ten minutes later when Six crouched down beside him and leaned in close. "He fell asleep," he pointed out, looking past Five to check Eight again. Five exhaled in relief, "Thank goodness… We should probably try to get some sleep." Six nodded and looked over towards the blanket on the floor, then crawled over to grab it. He dragged it over beside Five and offered it to him.

"It's not safe to lay on the bed. Eight keeps kicking and he's just going to wake again." Five nodded in agreement and attempted to get comfortable with the edge of the bed and the blanket. "This is enough. If you need to go to your room…" Six shook his head firmly, "I'm fine. I need to stay. Nine?" He looked towards the zippered male and the one eyed male hesitated, "Uh… Let's just leave him alone for now. If he wakes then I'll tell him to go lay down." They sat there together against the bed, Five starting to relax. Six stayed awake a bit longer.

Yet surprisingly, like Eight, Six managed to somehow fall asleep.

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 **Mable: Does Eight have a grip on the withdrawals? Perhaps not, it's a long journey still, but Eight's completed one of the hardest tests he's had to face. The next chapter will be posted as soon as I can finish it. I hope everyone enjoyed!... Also, before you ask, I didn't forget about Two. Two got a little distracted in One's room; Two has been known to fall asleep in tense situations. XD**


	4. Chapter 4: The Struggles

**Mable: Wow, this took** _ **way**_ **longer than intended. Though I finally figured out where I wanted to go with this chapter, so that's something in the least. I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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 _ **Magnetic Attraction**_

 _Chapter Four: The Struggles_

Nine awoke with a stiff neck and a sore back. He groaned and straightened, looking around and seeing Eight still in bed and Six wrapped in a blanket on the floor. Five was missing and Nine could see lights outside the door. Slowly he stood and stretched out his body, then made his way out and into the Workshop. One and Two were standing there talking. "And I'm really concerned-." Two could be heard before he cut off upon noticing the younger Stitchpunk. "Oh, Nine, good morning! How was last night?" Nine yawned and then answered him.

"Good enough. Eight got to sleep at least… You, uh, disappeared." Two seemed to suddenly get an alarmed look and a light blush of green settled on his cheeks. "Oh, well, you see… I am embarrassed to say, but I fell asleep! I'm very sorry. I should have been there with you four." Nine shrugged it off, "It's not a problem, Two. I was just worried because I didn't see you leave One's room." He meant it as innocently as he could and yet One felt the need to defend himself, "I assure you that he did leave and certainly didn't sleep in my room." By this point Nine had already noticed Five asleep on the medical cot.

"Oh Five… He was awake longer than I was. Six too, I think. He's still asleep on the floor," Nine explained and the two looked concerned. "That cannot be good for him," One pointed out to the other Stitchpunks. "It's not. Five was doing it too and look at him," Nine returned back. One and Two actually did spare glances back in the healer's direction. "He's very tired… Nine, if you need to rest too then you are welcome to. One and I can take over watching Eight for the day." The younger considered it briefly, but then shrugged it off. "No, really, it's fine. I'm okay."

Though while Nine was okay, there was someone who certainly wasn't. Eight awoke feeling awful shortly after Nine stepped out. Everything was sore, everything throbbed, and everything was slow and yet wired at the same time. He sat upwards on the bed and hung his legs over the side to brace himself. There was a heavy weakness settling in and he felt almost like he was going to faint. Though he wasn't tired enough to sleep; he didn't even feel like he could sleep for another second. He groaned and rubbed his head as overstimulation sunk in and the franticness returned.

Eight's movement had awoken Six who the Guard had not seen. He slowly sat upwards and peered around the foot of the bed at the Guard. Eight was clearly still struggling and released a choked noise like a sob. Horror filled the Artist and he stood, daring to step forwards. "Eight?" Eight's body reacted with extreme alarm as to him Six had somehow appeared beside him. He jumped back on the pillow with a cry. It was almost comical to see such a large, strong Stitchpunk be frightened by someone as innocent as Six was.

Then, once his pulse slowed, he cried out, "Where did you come from?!" An awkward smile passed Six's lips, "I was asleep…On the floor… It's a long story. It doesn't matter." He fiddled with his key and quietly asked, "Are… Are you okay? Last night was a really bad night." Eight looked away from the peering, mismatched optics. "…No. I'm not gonna pretend I am. Everything's wrong with me." He rubbed his forehead with a tired groan while Six continued to fidget beside him. Neither of them really knew what to say for the first while.

"Do you… Want to try to do something, maybe? I-I know you might be tired, but maybe it would help." Six's offer actually didn't seem like a bad idea at the moment. Eight would kill for a decent distraction to take his mind off of his problems. It wasn't like the withdrawals would mysteriously vanish, but maybe he could work past them. "Yeah…" He stood from the bed, "I need to work on my knife handle. It's getting loose and I've been putting it off." Six's face alit in delight at the interest. "Yes! That's great, yes, you should!"

He turned and hurried over to the knife leaning against the wall, trying to somewhat pick it up to move it. Eight knew that the Artist wasn't going to accomplish this, but watched the striped one struggle to drag it. He could see why the others saw Six as so innocent and young, being that his behavior was so, for lack of a better term, cute. Eight's clouded mind sobered immediately at the thought of thinking Six was 'cute'. He shoved it into the back recesses of his mind and reached forward to take the blade, easily bringing it to him.

"You're so much stronger than me…" Six admitted as he watched Eight sit down and bring the blade into his lap. The Guard stared down at it as he tried to get his mind together. It wasn't exactly easy for him to keep an even thought. "You don't have to try and make me feel better, Six. I'm doing fine," Eight casually remarked as he sat there unmoving. _"Wait, I need… I need the wires! Why did I even sit down without them?"_ Six got a sheepish look at this. "I'm not, I'm just- You are," he gave a soft smile before noticing the larger wasn't doing anything. "Something wrong?"

"I need the wire, I just... Can't get my thoughts together. It's under the bed on the other side if you could grab it." Eight didn't want to ask for more help, but he didn't feel like moving to the other side of the bed to retrieve it either. Especially since there was a heavy knife currently taking up space on his lap. Six eagerly darted around the bed, quicker than Eight would've been, and grabbed the spool of wire that Eight kept strictly for making weapons. The knife in his lap was obviously his favorite, Six could tell from the way he tended to baby it so much, and handed over the wire with a warm smile.

Eight suddenly wondered why Six was being so helpful considering their history, but then let the thought pass when he was too weary to focus on it. He started trying to wrap the wire while the Artist innocently watched. However, Eight soon found himself struggling. His hands were shaking and not as precise as they usually were. He was instantly feeling a growing frustration from the smallest failure; it only intensified as his hands seemed to become more and more limp. Eventually he huffed and dropped his hands onto the blade with a loud clanging noise.

"I can't do it!" he growled in frustration. "I can't even get it to work right! What's wrong with me?!" Even though he knew he couldn't help but feel unsure and upset. Something that he did for years he couldn't do. He set the knife down on the floor and dropped his head into his hands, falling completely silent. Six began to panic in response, "Wait, um, okay, maybe that wasn't the best choice." After this admission he stood and moved before Eight, "We'll find something else… It's morning. Don't you spar with Seven?"

Eight scoffed at the comment. "I can't fight her like this. She'll have me on my back faster than… Than she usually has me on my back." It wasn't that the guard didn't want to spar, it was simply that he knew he couldn't. He was having a hard enough time trying to ignore the withdrawal symptoms. "Is… There anything else you're interested in?" The larger shook his head, "I was built for fighting, making weapons, and training. What else do you expect?" He thought Six would buy this answer, but the smaller male looked to him desperately.

"Eight…" he began. "I know you're not that one dimensional." Again Six seemed to suddenly bring out the more advanced speech. Eight was becoming more convinced that Six's sweet and innocent, child-like behavior was simply a ruse. He knew too much as it was. The Guard felt slightly anxious as he inhaled to speak. "…I like music." Six tilted in head, "Music? Like listening to music?" Eight sort of shrugged a little, "Like music, you know. Listening to music, reading music, playing music- not that there's any way we're gonna find instruments our size."

When he looked upwards towards Six he could see the Artist's face brightened in a wide smile. "…What?" The striped one excitedly released his key, clutching his hands together. "I didn't know you were interested in the arts! Or an art, or- I didn't think anyone else- And you can really read music?!" As down as Eight felt, as pathetic and useless as he was feeling, Six's sudden excitement gave Eight a boost of pride. Until this point Eight always thought that the others would think his music inclined nature, which he inherited from the Scientist, was weird.

Then again, nobody was weirder than Six was. "I can. Can read it, write it, can tell which notes are which. Just never thought it mattered with everything. We need a guard more than we need music." Six was still completely ecstatic; until this point there were so many factions to art that he hadn't experienced and that the others were interested in. "You could do both! Do you know that song, umm…?" He made an attempt to hum something, but was a little too meekly quiet for the larger to register. Instead the Guard forced a somewhat dry chuckle, "Not like I can do either now."

"But you could!" Six protested. "They won't last forever, the withdrawals, and you'll be better." It almost broke his heart to see Eight just shrug it off. "We don't know that. Nobody came off a magnet like this… All the others know is that it was supposed to happen, not if it stops, not if I lose everything… Become a…" He trailed off to look for a word and Six suggested, "Invalid? Eight, no. I'm closer there, you're just fine. You just can't work on weapons right now." He was becoming more concerned. This wasn't the normal Eight either, even though he wasn't crazed like the night before.

"I was thinking 'leech' sounded better… For me, not you. If this goes away-." He suddenly cut off and gave another frustrated huff. He rubbed at his sore head tiredly, "I… Think I'm going to go back to sleep." Now Six was massively torn. He wanted Eight to get the sleep he could, he knew it would help his body, but something about his whole tone and demeanor was concerning him. As proud as he sounded earlier, Eight just seemed like he was ready to give in and spend the rest of his life in bed. This wasn't too out of the blue; One went through a period of the same thing once.

Six just didn't want to see that happening to Eight. "Okay, but…" Determination swept over him and he straightened. "Eight… If I could get you a music instrument, music notes, anything, would you try that?" The Guard chuckled lightly, "Six, I don't think you realize how instruments work… Or how big humans are." He glanced over and could see the smaller male's desperate look. He exhaled slowly and gave in, "Sure, if you find something, just as long as I can sleep now." Six beamed and hurried out of the room, leaving Eight to roll over and face the wall.

" _Can't even work on my knife…"_ Eight bitterly thought as he laid there in the dark. " _Great…"_ He moped to himself while Six took his new idea into the workshop. One, Two, and Nine were still talking and noticed him enter. "Morning, Six," Nine greeted with a welcoming smile. "Something wrong?" Six shook his head and allowed an eager smile to pass over his face, "I think… I think I know how to help Eight… But I need something…" He fell into thought with a hum as One boldly stepped forwards. "Whatever it is we will get ahold of it, if it will truly help him."

Six looked to the leader, paused, and then hesitantly asked, "Can we make a musical instrument?" One stared back blankly. After a few moments he dared to ask, "Is this a joke?" Six shook his head firmly in response and One now looked to Two in disbelief. Two stared back at him from his position leaning again the workbench, then looked directly to Six. "We… Could. We could. Of course we could. It would just take a little time, the proper tools, and maybe a good enough template- the actual instrument for comparison. Any reason why in particular?"

Six hesitated, not sure if Eight wanted everyone to know. On the other hand, Six didn't think he could hide how excited and delighted he was about Eight's talent. He also knew it would probably help convince the others to go through the extra amount of effort. "I…I want to give Eight something to do. He couldn't work on his knife this morning." The Stitchpunks seemed skeptical of the Artist's suggestion. "It's a good idea, Six. Giving Eight something to do would probably give him a distraction, but I don't know about using a… A what exactly?" Nine looked to Two and One in confusion.

"A musical instrument, Nine. They are played to create music," One quickly explained it before looking back to Six. "Six, musical instruments, no matter which one, are difficult to learn and take years to master. If Eight is struggling doing something that he is able to do easily then playing an instrument is out of the question." Normally the striped male would agree with this logic. However, he couldn't help but feel patronized by all three of them, and he knew that he had to tell them the real reason why he needed an instrument.

"But Eight doesn't need to master it. He already knows it. He already knows how to read it and play, he just doesn't have anything he _can_ play." One brows furrowed at the comment, "What are you talking about?" The Artist insisted further, "Eight told me he was born with Fa- With the Creator's knowledge of music. He just never thought it was important because we were always fighting Beasts." Now Six gained his courage and became firmer and clearer with his intentions, "This is something that he had to suppress to protect us. Now we are protecting him and we should embrace all of him."

The oldest Stitchpunk was absolutely dumbstruck. It was obvious from his face that he had absolutely no idea about Eight's abilities. He looked to Two, as though asking if he knew, but naturally he hadn't either. "Eight… He never expressed any interest in music. He never even said anything about music, I just assumed…" One's voice fell silent. To the others' surprise One had nothing to say. Six now turned to Two as he was the only one, except Five, who Six suspected would be able to actually make the instrument. "Is it possible…?"

"Of course!" Two saw the tenseness in One and Six and decided to be the optimistic voice. "It depends on the instrument really, but any of them are very possible. Just as long as we can get the supplies and… Perhaps find a larger instrument to use as a template. In fact, I do believe there is a music store in the city." Six perked and Nine stretched, "Is there a map? I could take Six there." The short Inventor turned to the workbench and began to look through the cabinets to find the recently drawn maps. Finally, he found one that he was able to mark the location on.

"I'll come with you as well, but Five will need his rest and Eight… I don't think he will be feeling up to traveling." Six smiled in a slightly sad way, "I… Yeah… But we can make it a surprise." Two chuckled happily, "That's the spirit! Now let's get ready and go!" There was a low groan from the nearby medical cot. Two cringed as he realized he was a bit too loud and looked over, watching as the one eyed male started to drag himself upwards. "Sorry there, my boy! I was a bit too overexcited." He was interrupted by a scoff from One, "Overexcited is an understatement."

One then headed out the door in the direction of Eight's bedroom. Two glanced in his direction before looking back to Five, "We're going out to that music shop downtown. You can go back to sleep." The Healer yawned and stretched a little, sighed, and then started to stand from the cot. "I can come with you," he groggily murmured and staggered towards the workbench, leaning against it. Nine and Two sent each other concerned looks before putting their attention back onto Five. "Five, you had a rough night. You need to rest more," Nine insisted.

"No, no. I'm fine. I have to get up and check on Eight anyway," Five tried to convince them. "Then stay here and watch Eight. That shouldn't be too tiring." Nine reached out to affectionately pat Five's shoulder. "I can't have my best friend working himself to the metal. Especially when you're still planning on tending to Eight." Five caved, though it may have been because he was too tired to argue. "Alright, I… Just be careful out there, and try not to lose or tear the map," he teasingly added the last part in as a mock command. "Or you'll be drawing the next one."

Nine and Two chuckled while Six simply smiled, a little distracted, and Five headed to the door. "Be careful out there," he warned and then headed down the hall towards Eight's bedroom. He could hear talking before he stepped inside, and could see One standing beside the bed. The Leader was speaking surprisingly gently to his Guard. "If you need to rest then you can. I know you had a difficult night," One offered to the male. Eight tiredly responded, "It's okay, Boss. I'll be fine… Do you need me out there?" The Leader stayed surprisingly patient with his guard.

"I think we can handle a day to let you rest." Now Five stepped forward to stand beside One. The Leader glanced to him without much of an expression. This of course meant One was worried; One didn't turn completely devoid of emotions unless he was worried. "Morning, Eight," Five faked a cheery tone. "How are you feeling? Any side effects that I can try to take care of? If you're still running a fever I could get another wet cloth, a-and if you still have a headache there's some alternate treatments we can try. The twins have some incense that might help…"

"I'm fine," Eight said back to him. "Just tired. Just resting…" But this wasn't a good sign. They knew Eight was lying, but it wasn't like he was putting on a tough front, not by the way he just laid there facing away. "Oh, well, that's okay too, but I think-." Five was cut off by One's hand resting on his shoulder. Looking over he could see that One's face took a grim look. He was signaling Five to stop and once he did he spoke to Eight, "We will be out in the throne room if you need anything. We'll let you rest." Then he silently guided Five out. Eight didn't even really react.

"Let's hope Six's plan works," One began as they entered the hall. "I've never seen him in this state before… Is this to be expected?" The Healer was unsure what to say, so he shut off the emotional part of his mind and brought the medical based one to the surface. "We can't really say. Because the lack of magnet would affect the core it could be possible, but I think that it's the stress getting to Eight instead. After all, Eight is probably feeling weak and uncomfortable, so there is no doubt in my mind that this could be caused from the emotional strain alone."

As they entered into the throne room, seeing Seven and the twins awake nearby, Five spoke quieter. "The best thing we can do is manage the withdrawals themselves… That's all I can do. I may be a Healer, but I don't do too well out of physical healing. I'm not a miracle worker." One's slanted optics briefly held a saddened look, but then returned to their normal narrowness. "I would disagree with that, Five," he began. Five expected him to say that. "Out of all of us I believe you are the most capable of healing emotional scars." Five absolutely did not expect him to say that.

After his compliment, One continued over to his throne. Five, meanwhile, stared after him with his mouth agape. Suddenly he felt like he had to somehow work out a miracle.

* * *

Unlike most of the other shops in the district, the music shop looked fine from the outside and was practically destroyed on the inside. A large part of the ceiling had fallen in and left a gaping area of blue sky peering through. The instruments that remained were in various degrees of condition. Some were rusted, some were crushed, and a few were somehow managing to survive. Nine and Six stared at the music shop with stunned looks on their faces. Neither of them expected that this destruction was what they were going to be confronted with.

"Oh my… Well… It's not as bad as it could have been," Two meekly tried to comfort. He was actually very embarrassed knowing that he had directly led them to this. "We only need a design pattern anyway. It wasn't as though Eight could've used any of these, considering the size." He started forward to search the room and the other two followed. Six found his mismatched optics dragged to the ground where he found worn music sheets laying there. Some were completely unreadable, but a few were still legible enough that he considered copying them down.

"What about this?" Nine's voice broke through the silence that had begun to accumulate. He approached what he could only describe as a rod with holes down the side of it. Two followed him and smiled in interest, "Ah, a flute!... Or I believe this is a flute. That would be quite easy to carve." His optics began to roam over the other instruments. "A piano would be much too out of our range in such a short amount time. See, it actually is internally strung... You wouldn't be able to tell, being its current state."

The last part was an awkward joke as he pointed out the instrument, now on the floor on buckled legs and under a mass of ceiling. "No, I believe it. I… Actually, I think I've seen one before, maybe." He looked back to the striped artist who was still looking at the papers. "What do you think, Six?" Six straightened and finally took a look around at the instruments left over. His optics landed on one in particular, "What about… That?" He pointed an ink pen tipped finger at one in particular. The other Stitchpunks looked over in turn. Two blinked, "Hmm… Are you certain?"

"Is it a bad choice?" Six quietly asked and Two reassured him. "Not at all! It… Shouldn't be too difficult to make. At least not if we're careful and patient with it. I'll need your assistance in drawing some plans. Nine, if you could, try to see if there's any spare wires around; the thinner the better." Nine hurried off to do as instructed while Two and Six went to make sketches. Six was confident that he made the right choice.

* * *

Five recommended that Eight get out of bed for a while. That was the only reason why the Guard had been willing to stagger into the Throne Room. Relief passed by the other Stitchpunks when they saw the Guard shuffle in and take his post. Almost immediately, One zoomed over to Seven and made a request. "You should invite Eight to spar." Seven seemed a little uncertain, "I don't know, One. He doesn't exactly look like he's up to it." One glanced to Eight for only a minute before looking back to Seven. "I know… But I think it would be better to have him active."

The pale female looked to the one eyed male who was wandering over. "What do you think?" she inquired. He took a moment to think before he tentatively spoke, "I… Guess. It might help, getting him active, but if he's still feeling down… I don't know. You can always ask." This seemed to convince the Warrior enough and she gave a nod before starting over to ask Eight himself. He didn't seem to notice her until the last minute as he had been looking at the floor. "Want to spar? I could use a workout," Seven offered with a friendly smile.

As tough as she had been on Eight during the intervention, she did care about him and was worried about him. If there was anything she could do to help she would do it, especially now that the talking had worked and proved to her that it was worth the effort, even if she didn't think it would work. "I don't know. I'm not gonna be worth the trouble like this. I can barely lift my knife," Eight honestly admitted. This wasn't normal Eight, normal Eight who tended to be playfully overconfident when it had to do with sparring.

Still, Seven tried not to get discouraged, "I think you used that excuse the last time I took you down." She joked and offered her hand. Eight got a small smile and took her hand, standing from his book seat and following her out. Both of the twins scurried after them curiously and both One and Five chose to follow and watch as well. Once out in the courtyard both Eight and Seven took out their weapons, knife and spear, and took their stances to prepare for the battle. Then Seven took towards Eight with her usual speed.

He took a swing with his knife that she nimble slid underneath, bringing her spear upwards to smack his arm. He attempted to turn and follow her, but Seven seemed to keep moving much faster than he could handle. It didn't take him long to become convinced that it was again his withdrawals. The Guard was only barely able to keep his knife in front of him to block her spear. He finally gave a final strike and she easily dodged by rolling back out of the way. This last dodge was the final straw in Eight's book. "Damn it!" He cried out in frustration and suddenly threw his knife to the stone ground.

His outburst caused the watching twins to flinch back; Three huddled back into Four's protective arms as they stared with wide optics. Seven just stared at him in shock, "Eight?" The taller Stitchpunk growled with frustration towards himself. "I can't even do this now! Look at me- I can't even keep my own in a fight anymore!" It was Five who blurted out desperately, "Eight, no, your body is just having trouble relearning basic functions without the magnet! It'll go away!" This didn't seem to do anything to ease the Guard's frustration. He turned away and started to storm back to the Library, "I'm going back inside."

Five called after him pleadingly, "Eight, wait!" Eight gave a curt, "I'll be in my room." Five just watched as his plan completely fell apart. One gave a call of, "Eight!" but Eight didn't respond and disappeared into the Library. The five Stitchpunks could only watch after him. "I… I didn't expect that. I thought he would upset if I went too easy on him," Seven quietly explained to the others. Regardless, she did feel a bit at fault and looked to the knife laying there. "I don't think I've ever seen him willingly abandon his knife like this. Should I take it in to him?"

One sighed a bit, "No, we'll take it inside but we should give him space. Not that my ideas are coming up successful…" He frowned at the predicament and headed inside as well. The twins rushed forward to grab the heavy knife and drag it back into the Library. Five couldn't help but feel like he failed and waited out on the front steps for the others to return, mentally trying to concoct a rational idea. Thankfully he wasn't left there too long, sitting under the hot sun, before the three returned.

They were engaged in a happy conversation and Five couldn't help but force a smile as they appeared. He didn't want to bring down their spirits. "Find something good?" Five offered as Nine sat down beside him. "We did! Take a look at these plans. This is our next project." Nine got a cheeky smile as Five looked them over, his optic widening. "Wow, this is… This isn't going to be easy." Nine chuckled in response, "When have we ever done something easy?" A spark of inspiration suddenly filled Five's mind and he studied the plans.

"Now if we get started now we can probably finish in a few days. That would give you time to find more music, Six. I'm sure the twins would have a book or two," Two instructed Six who gave a nod in agreement. Five interrupted with a hopeful smile, "If I get started now and really buckle down I can have it done by tomorrow." Two looked to Five in surprise, "Five, that's awfully quick. I don't want you to overwork yourself." Five went to speak, but Nine broke in as well with his own concerns. "Five, you barely slept last night. You can't just willingly go a second night without sleep."

For a second the patched male seemed to hesitate, but then shook it off. "If it gets too late then I'll stop and sleep. Eight doesn't need me anyway. I… Don't think he really wants to see me after earlier." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Six's upbeat excitement shifted to concern in a heartbeat, "What happened? Is he okay?" The Healer coughed awkwardly, "He's fine, just… It's a long story. Anyway, Two, if you could help me, I could get started." He smiled at his mentor and tried desperately to ignore any more questions on the sparring match outburst.

While Six didn't seem reassured, he didn't ask anything else. Two seemed more than glad to start working and helped Five to his feet. They headed inside together while Nine waited for Six. "Are you alright?" He noticed Six's subdued nod and decided to stay with him instead of rushing after Nine and Two. "Come on, let's go find that music. We'll need something for Eight to play, right?" This got a smile out of Six and he tagged alongside Nine who started into the Library.

Maybe they could pull together a miracle after all. Or at least, this instrument.

* * *

 **Mable: So Eight is certainly not out of the woods yet. Even if he seems to be handling it better, Eight's going through a lot, so can something as simple as a gift really make it better? It shall be revealed in the next chapter! Hopefully I'll be done with it a lot quicker than this one. I hope everyone enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Talent

**Mable: Hello there! I actually got a really nice review yesterday for Magnetic Attraction, and it actually really helped me push through the end of the chapter. Angel, thank you so much! I wasn't intending on going so long without an update, but I have been working on it slower because of a writer's block I was having. Particularly with ending this chapter, but your kind words helped give me that shove that helped me finish it! I can only hope that this chapter is worth it. I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Magnetic Attraction**_

 _Chapter Five: The Talent_

Eight hadn't made any attempt to leave his room since the disaster that was a sparring match. He mostly slept, but did make two more attempts at working on his weapons before giving up entirely. He just couldn't do it and if he could he wasn't patient enough to even try for more than a few minutes. Instead he simply was determined to lay around until he somehow returned to normal. That was, until late that night, when most of the others were probably asleep. Eight couldn't sleep any more than he had and was just blankly laying in the bed like he had earlier.

Out of nowhere, footsteps could be heard as a Stitchpunk entered the bedroom and crossed to the bed. Eight tried to pretend that he was asleep so he would be left alone, but the Stitchpunk had other plans. A hand landed on his arm and shook it. "Eight?" He had recognized the hand on his arm before he heard the voice. Only one Stitchpunk's hand was that size and tipped with such points. It was clearly Six and Eight suddenly felt the urge to be somewhat more awake for the male. He turned his head, "Yeah? What are you doing awake?"

Six got a tiny smile, "I need your help with something… Can you come with me?" Eight wasn't really wanting to. After all, out of the entire day this was the one time when he should've been in bed, but he started to cave without any convincing. "Where are we going?" He asked and Six gave an eager smile, "Just into the study. Please, I really need your help." His delight contrasted dramatically with his pleading words, but the Guard trusted him. He exhaled with forced frustration and then rolled over to climb out of bed. The Artist guided him out the door, down the hall, and through the Library into the study.

Six coaxed him back to his little gallery. "I've been trying to finish my drawing. It's… It's the most important thing I've drawn," Six explained as he approached the drawing he had been working on. Nothing really had been done on it since Eight had threatened it a few days ago. "The most important?" Eight raised a brow, thinking that the male was being overdramatic. The striped male nodded with sureness, "This is my first real transition from Seer to Artist. I'll always be a Seer, but I need to show that I can be an Artist… But I can't finish it."

"Don't look at me. I'm not gonna be able to help," Eight defended himself. The small artist got a wider smile, "But you are! You see, I need inspiration…" He stepped off towards some books nearby, reaching behind them and revealing something wrapped in fabric. He brought it closer and offered it to Eight, who took it in his arms as Six slowly uncovered it. "And I think you might be able to give it to me." Eight stared in surprise at what lay in his hands; it looked like a violin. He didn't think it was possible that they could exist this small. "How… How did you get this?"

"Five and Two. It was mostly them," Six smiled sheepishly, eagerly watching the larger's reaction. Eight plucked at the wires and looked it over. "It's amazing. It's an actual instrument- It actually works." He then noticed something missing. "Wait, Six, to play a violin you need a-." Eight's comment was cut off as Six suddenly presented a properly sized violin bow to him. Six continued smiling and, as Eight took the bow, he actually found himself giving a willing one back. "You really think I can do this?" the guard asked in a hushed tone and Six was honest with him. "I do."

He led the Guard over to the short stack of books and let him sit down. Then he watched and waited to see if he would begin. Eight exhaled slowly as he looked to the instrument; he wasn't exactly confident that he could do this, but there was a part of him that wanted to try more than anything. All of the suppressed desire was resurfacing even with the withdrawals wracking his body. "Don't expect it to be good. This will be my first time playing one of these." Six seemed so innocently delighted in the fact that Eight was doing it at all that it didn't bother him.

"Hold on, just let me get ready," Six suddenly broke in and turned to get his things arranged. He brought out a newly filled inkwell and set it before the drawing, looking over it for a moment to scan and see what he was doing. Eight wasn't too sure if music could really inspire the drawing as much as Six thought that it could. Though the Guard suddenly had an epiphany, an overwhelming confidence that clutched him and told him he could do this. That he was created for this; he had years of experience backing him from before he was even conceived.

"I'm ready," Six announced, looking back at Eight with a smile. Eight rested the violin against his shoulder and position the bow, pausing for a second. "I'm going to need to get a feel for this thing, so the first couple of seconds may sound like garbage. Just… Anything you want to hear?" The Artist looked to the side as he tried to think of something. It wasn't the fact that Six didn't know some music, though he had a limited selection, but the fact that he didn't know the titles of most songs. Even if he did, it would be a slight bit of a stretch if Eight knew all of them too.

"I… I don't know… Why don't you play what you know for me? Then I'll learn what they are," he gave an affectionate smile. Eight clutched the bow a little tighter. He wasn't sure why, but he was staring a little too hard back at Six, and he had to cough to get out of it. "Alright… I think I can remember a couple." He forced his mind to focus past the headache, past the distractions, and thought of the song in mind. Then he tested the strings, tried a few notes and practiced positioning his fingers. He then fiddled with the tightness of the strings and finally took an attempt at playing.

When the first note hit correctly, Eight continued to start playing, moving slowly into the tune. As hard as it was to do any work with his hands, mostly because of frustration, he slipped into the pattern of playing quickly. It certainly proved that he hadn't misread his gift; he played like he had done so before, but never had. Becoming more confident, Eight tried a smoother melody, and even when he had a mistake he found himself not getting frustrated as easily. He moved from a simple song to what was close to a sonata.

Soon a scratching noise also filled the room along with the music, being Six beginning to draw once again. The music seemed to be working as his motions were fluid and sure; he knew what he was doing now that he had his focus. Eight seemed distracted in his own way as well, getting lost in the music, and cycling through the songs he knew with every brush of the strings. They were lost like this for some time. It was only when Six moved away from his drawing and back to Eight that he stopped playing. "Everything good?" Six nodded, looking a little tired. "Yeah… I think it's finished."

"That was pretty quick," Eight was surprised, but then questioned his actual perception of time. "…Wait… How long have I been playing?" Six chuckled instead of answering and sat down on the book beside him. "Umm, Eight, could you…?" He paused midway through with a yawn. He then shuffled to lay down on the book, "Could you play for me a little longer?" He was intending to lull himself to sleep with it, but Eight was skeptical. "That can't be comfortable." He looked to the violin, staring at it for a moment and remembering that Six had made it all possible.

Six was the one who convinced him to stop the magnet. Six was one who was helping him through the withdrawals. Six gave him this gift. Six didn't have to do any of this, but he did, even when Eight had been such a bully over the years. "…Here, come closer." The striped male was confused, but did so, scooting a little closed. The guard then coaxed him to lay down and rest his head again his leg. It wasn't much, but it was a better pillow than book cover was. "You can hear it better from here," Eight excused with a warm smile and Six found himself smiling back, a slight glow of green on his cheeks.

He was slow in his movements, but did as Eight instructed. He rested against him and stretched out in an attempt to relax while Eight prepared to play. "Umm… Eight… That song?" He tried to hum the music to get Eight to catch on, but the guard just looked confused. "The one from the phonograph, Somewhere Over the Rainbow?" Six squeaked out. From Six's perspective it was a sore subject; the song played right before both Five and he fell to the Machine. Though the song didn't really phase Eight as he hadn't been there during the event. He gave a nod and set the bow to the violin.

"I think I can do it…" he hesitantly started with the song, playing a slower version of the melody as he tried to match it. It certainly wasn't perfect and Eight noticed it right away with scrutiny, but as Six relaxed beside him he felt successful. For the first time since he had stopped using the magnet, he felt like he was doing something right. Hesitantly, he stopped playing the instrument and instead set it aside. Gently he moved Six over just a bit so that he could turn to lay down as well. After a brief mental battle, he decided to slowly pull the Artist beside him.

Eight watched Six as he pulled him beside him, trying not to rouse him, and just let himself relax. It felt so weird to do this and if Six had been awake he wouldn't dare to do it. He just wanted to see what it felt like. Though he regretted this quickly as Six suddenly turned his head and spoke, "You… You won't go back to using the magnet…Right?" His voice was soft as he asked the question, clearly wanting reassurance. The Guard recovered from the fact that Six had been awake the entire time and hadn't said anything, and answered.

"No. I meant what I said before," he still wanted the magnet, he knew he did, and turned onto his back. "I'm better than that now." A soft sigh slipped from Six and he turned a little more, pressing into the larger male slightly. His fatigue muddled mind eased any awkwardness in the motion. "Thank you…" Eight chuckled a little, "Why are you thanking me? You're the one who did all of this." He found himself being a little more open. Six smiled affectionately and readjusted his arm to clutch his key, "T-That's not really true. Two and Five made the violin."

"That's not what I mean…" Eight moved to sit upwards a bit more, deciding to get this out of the way quickly. Six moved to look at him and only then did Eight begin to speak again. "Six… I know I've been a pain for the last while. I've been up and down, and there and back, but if I can do this then I can pull myself together again." He looked to the instrument sitting beside him. "And it was what you said that shoved me along… Because I know I could've defended myself if I hadn't have been magnet high. I wouldn't have let that thing get me so easily."

Six watched Eight, a sympathetic look on his face, and Eight continued. "And then you still stick around after I threaten your stuff, and you led this project. All of this after I've been a jerk." He chuckled in a dry and bitter way and rubbed his face wearily. "Years and years of me acting like an ass to you and you're the one doing all of this. I don't get it, Six. How can you do something like that?" The striped male became more awake and clutched his key tighter, unable to meet Eight's gaze. "I… I believe any Stitchpunk can change, Eight. I knew you could quit the magnet if you got help…"

He was very hesitant in his words. Not because he was afraid of Eight's reaction, but more because he was nervous about saying what he was trying to say. "I knew that wasn't who you really were, Eight. I knew that because that wasn't really who I was either. We just made ourselves different people for different reasons." He looked to Eight with his wide, mismatched optics. They almost illuminated as his lenses reflected the nearby candlelight. "I always hoped that maybe someday we could both move past that…" Eight just stared back at him.

"…Eight?" Six eventually asked when the Guard never replied to his comment. Instead Eight was feeling a very strange sensation in his chest. It was a need, like his desire for the magnet, but it involved something he didn't understand. Before either could grasp it, Eight started to pull Six into an actual hug. The small Artist gasped into the warm grasp. He was surprised, but didn't pull away from it and even pushed further in after a few seconds. Eight didn't feel like this was enough to make up for everything; he only hoped it was enough of a thanks for now.

Six wrapped his arms around one of Eight's to return to embrace. The only thing separating them was Six's key which had become trapped between them. They stayed like this, Eight eventually reclining on the book with Six, and neither felt the need to move until after the sun rose the next morning.

By time Eight awoke, Six was already awake and covering his drawing carefully with a piece of stained fabric. The Guard sat upwards, his head throbbing once again and him feeling more than a little off balance. The withdrawals were back and as frustrating as ever, but he ignored them to address Six. "Hey…" he said awkwardly. Six spun around, got a tiny, nervous smile, and gave his own awkward, "Oh, hey, m-morning. I hope I didn't wake you." Eight was actually the first one to break their gaze to look at the floor, "Nah, wasn't you." He looked back, "Why are you covering it?"

"I-I'm going to do an unveiling later," Six turned to continue covering it. "I don't want anyone seeing it before. Other than you, you already saw it." He babbled in his own way and Eight watched in amusement. He then stood and started over, seeing Six trying to reach as best as he could and simply unable to do so. Six always was rather short, especially compared to Eight. He held out his hand to Six, who stared at it in confusion before taking it with his own hand. Eight held back an amused roll of his optics and clarified, "The sheet."

"Oh! Umm, sorry…" Six handed over the sheet, face bright with green light once again, and watched as Eight easily hung it on the pins that held the drawing in place. "So, umm… Are you going to play for the others?" He noticed that Eight briefly went still when asked this question. Though he then finished the task and turned back to Six. "I don't know. Seems pretty early since I've only had the thing since yesterday." His hands were still shaking too and he looked at them in confusion. He knew they never stopped, so he was baffled how he had played the thing at all in this state.

"But you were amazing!" Six gushed as he boldly took one of Eight's hands between his. "I…I think you should! We don't get to hear much music beyond what's at the phonograph, and maybe it'll inspire Two and Five to make more of them for you to play!" He obviously meant instruments and, surprisingly to Eight, he actually liked the prospect. It was like getting a new weapon, except he didn't need a willing competitor to practice. "...I don't know, maybe. Whenever you show your drawing off. No reason only one of us should show off, right?"

The obvious nervousness returned to Six's face, but he still smiled and nodded in agreement. "I would like that." Neither was really sure what this was, their new change in demeanor and affectionate behavior, but neither of them really felt a need to complain. As for their plan, Eight stayed out of the way to quietly, as quiet as he could, practice while Six gathered the others. Regardless of his new focus, Eight didn't feel ready to boldly confront everyone and act like he was completely well. Maybe this was only because he needed a continued period of keeping to himself.

It didn't take too long for Six to lure everyone into the gallery. Eight continued practicing, trying to suppress any sort of concern with casual behavior. He didn't usually lack this much confidence in himself. When he was fighting, when he wielded his knives, he knew he had the strength to back it up. This was so much different, involving slow and methodical movements. He couldn't trust his strength to manage something like music. He needed to be careful, the focus more, and only then could he create.

Three and Four wandered over to him, the others still distracted with Six, and looked to the violin in curiosity. Eight decided to use them for further practice, getting a slight smile, and prepared the violin in position. "You two got any requests?" They looked to each other, optics flickering curiosity, and then they started to make various hand gestures and signals. Eight had no idea what they were trying to say. He cleared his voice module to get their attention, "How about I just play what I played for Six last night?" They perked at this and nodded in sync, getting eager smiles.

He started to play for the young Stitchpunks who seemed delighted by it. Their optics flickered and recorded what they could of him; Four recording the visual and Three recording the audio. Eight closed his optics and went with the flow, trying not to think about his nerves or any of the withdrawals. In a way he found himself able to ignore them; he wasn't sure how he did, but it was a relief to not be stuck focused on them. Once he neared the end of the song, the first he had played last night, his opened his optics again only to notice that the twins weren't alone.

He was aware some of the others were watching, but he didn't expect to see One standing beside the twins, who were already standing closer than they were when he closed his eyes. He still finished the song as he had planned to, rewarded with the twins' eager clapping. Before they could request more or anything, One turned to them. "Why don't you two go see if you can find music sheets? I know that you two must have some." Three nodded eagerly and beckoned Four to follow as they hurried off.

Now it would just be One and Eight, semi-alone since the others were focused on Six once more. "Eight…" One began and trailed off immediately. When he didn't continue, Eight started, "Uh… Hey, Boss." The Leader started once again, "Eight, why didn't you tell me about all this?" Eight shrugged a little and looked down to the violin, absentmindedly fiddling with the strings. "I don't know. I thought we'd do better with a guard. That's what I was made for." Which was true. Gift or not, enjoyment or not, Eight knew that he was truly built to protect the others from danger.

"You are a wonderful guard, Eight. Better than I could have ever asked for." Eight was actually surprised by how tender One's voice was when he said that. One was brash most of the time and, while he was much more open with Eight, he tended to keep his real feelings deeply under wraps. Yet One's face showed his honest, along with a slightly guilty look. "And you are an excellent musician. If I ever gave the impression that you couldn't do both, I was sorely mistaken." Serious moment or not, Eight couldn't help but smile at this, "Thanks, Boss."

"And now I do expect you to do both," One managed to regain his usual tone rather quickly. Maybe it was a cover, but he seemed pretty determined to return to this state. Though Eight noticed a slight smile, or perhaps a smug smile, on the Leader's lips. "So don't expect to be able to slack off. I expect you to treat this as importantly as you do your guard work." Eight chuckled a little bit, "Whatever you say, Boss." He was teasing back, though his was more of a joke than One's was. Hopefully this did mean that One would be willing to request for more instruments to be made.

Now both of their attention fell on Six who was preparing to remove the fabric off of his canvas. He was clearly nervous from how he clutched his key and waited until everyone was watching before revealing the drawing to the room. There was a gasp from Seven, a delighted pair of smiles from Nine and Five, flickering from the twins, and even Eight managed a slight smile. The drawing was a cityscape of a city from long ago. It was of a street of buildings beside a stone bridge and river rushing underneath. While it was in black ink alone, it was rather detailed, and very precise.

Six made sure that the entire scene looked as true to life as possible, even though it was of a location that he had never seen. While Six thought that it came out like he wanted, he couldn't help but feel nervous as he saw the others studying what had taken him so long to perfect. "Why Six, this is- I don't believe this- this is smashing!" Two praised in delight. Six felt an immediate delight in hearing Two use the word that he had become so accustomed to saying when he was thoroughly impressed by something. "It is! Six, really, this is great!" Five insisted and beamed to him.

Nine put a playful arm around Six's shoulder and then continued to look at the drawing, studying over the presented cityscape. He, like the others, was actually admiring Six's work for something more than warning of an impending Beast attack. This was the closest thing to pride he had felt in years; or perhaps ever. He eagerly soaked up the interest and compliments that the others gave off like it was water. Even One seemed more encouraging, though he may have been softened by his conversation with Eight, and Six couldn't help but already imagine the next piece.

As for Eight, he watched the other Stitchpunks, he watched Six, and it was as though the last few days had never happened. He almost felt completely whole again just by seeing their joy and letting it spread to him as well. Not only did Eight snot have a fleeting thought about the magnet, as he frequently had been doing, but he decidedly didn't want anything to do with the magnet. This all felt better; just to be able to join in with the others without a distance. Of course that wasn't always because of the magnet, but he no longer had to worry about how long he had before he would need a boost.

Instead Eight stood, set his violin down, and approached his family without fear.

* * *

 **Mable: This is not the last chapter! I'm just reassuring this because, in case I get a little stuck on the next one, I don't want anyone thinking that it ends right at this spot. It doesn't yet. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed and has a happy holiday!**


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